Mencia, who is a diehard Lakers fan apparently can’t help but admire the San Antonio Spurs.

“I just respect the way the Spurs play,” Mencia, 46, told me during a phone interview to help promote his tour stop at San Antonio’s LOL Comedy Club August 15-17. “I love the way they approach the game.”

“The Spurs let it get away from them and lost it last year,” Mencia said. “But for them to learn from their mistakes and come back and win it this year is awesome and amazing.”

However, as Martinez noted, Mencia isn’t just a fan of the Spurs as a team and how they play. Not surprisingly, he finds himself a fan of the Spurs’ leaders on the floor and on the sidelines.

“Guys like [Gregg] Popovich don’t exist anymore,” Mencia said. “You don’t have coaches loyal to one team through thick and thin. You don’t have guys like Duncan anymore.”

It’s probably farfetched to think Mencia is enough of a fan of the team to show up at his standup performance in San Antonio next week with a Spurs jersey, but to see appreciation of the Spurs even spreading to Lakers fans is definitely a change of pace.

About Michael A. De Leon

Michael founded Project Spurs in 2004. He started The Spurscast, the first Spurs podcast on the Internet, in 2005. Michael has been interviewed by the BBC, SportTalk, the Sports Reporters Radio Show, MemphisSportLive, OKC Sports Wrap and ESPN radio among others. He is a credentialed member of the media for the San Antonio Spurs and Austin Toros. He is also the founder of Project Spurs' sister sites, Toros Nation and Stars Hoops.